Critical Evaluation of the Essay “I have a Dream”. Literature & Language Essay

Student’s Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Date
Critical Evaluation of the Essay “I have a Dream”
In August 1963, an American Baptist and Civil Activist, King, Martin Luther made a historical speech while addressing to a crowd with a purpose of initiating a march against racism and in favor of democracy. He referred to the promises made to the black-Americans in past and criticized the way those promises remained short of fulfilment, as a prevailed sense of ethnic discrimination was largely at the bottom of keeping the black-Americans deprived of their entitlements (Luther). The address, which was given the form of an essay, was a success because the speaker has utilized the set of devices and techniques to make his argument credible as well as relatable.
Framework of Argument
The first thing behind the credibility of the essay is the reference that King provides to the context in which he sets forth his argument. King reminds the nation of the promises made to them in past and how their rights were exploited at the hands of non-democratic forces in the country. His references to the constitutions i.e. “When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution” are valuable as they give a vivid flashback and help the audience better connect to the situation (Luther). Luther has clearly reminded them as to why they need to protest and why the matter was of great intensity.
Creating a rationale is an important part of setting an objective. It removes any doubts in the mind of the audience and helps the author (e.g. speaker in a given context) build trust around his position (Arp, et al. 27; Lawrence, et al. 290). Therefore, the framework used by Luther to set the context and create a motivation contributes significantly to the credibility of the argument.
Ethos
Ethos is a way to demonstrate to the audience as to why the author is trustworthy. It is a way to connect with the audience by proving personal credibility and providing the evidence of one’s authority to present an argument (Bennett 50). When the authority is proven, the audience has reasons to listen to and put trust in the message being conveyed to them.
In the present case, ethos is a dominant factor. King Luther is a Negro himself as well as a civil activist. The first thing that adds to his credibility is his ethnic background. Since he is an African American, he is not only the eye-witness but has also been on the receiving end of everything that he deems to be unfair and discriminative. Furthermore, he is a civil activist and can stand for his people. Another strong factor in his command on history. His practice of referring to past promises and t...